It wasn\u2019t until signage was installed on the roof several months ago that Karl Strauss Tasting Room & Beer Garden began emerging from obscurity. Though plainly visible from the east side of Interstate 5, just north of the Grand\/Garnet exit, the marker doesn\u2019t eliminate the mystery of how to reach the attractively designed property on narrow Santa Fe Street.
\nVisitors in the know access Santa Fe from Damon Avenue, oftentimes making a pit stop at that junction\u2019s nearby landmark, In-N-Out Burger.
\n“We get a lot of people coming in with bags of burgers from there,” says Tasting Room manager O\u2019Neill Gelle, noting that in the absence of a kitchen, outside food is allowed, including onsite deliveries from eateries such as Fat Sal\u2019s Deli and Woodstock Pizza.
\nAfter driving about a mile north on Santa Fe \u2013 past sheet metal outlets, a Jaguar dealership and other tucked-away commercial entities \u2013 Karl Strauss\u2019 two-year-old tasting room greets like an oasis for beer drinkers.
\nSituated slightly below street level, its glassy fa\u00e7ade is fronted by a spacious garden area adorned with mature trees, picnic tables, party lights and beer pong boards. The tasting room, which adjoins the company\u2019s main production facility, previously housed offices that have since moved down the street.
\n“Lots of people are still just learning about us, and everyone really enjoys the space once they get here,” says Gelle.
\nThe spacious interior boasts a sizable bar rigged with 20 taps designated exclusively to the Karl Strauss line. Eight of them feature the core brews, such as Red Trolley Ale and Tower 10 IPA. The others spotlight small-batch “tank taps” produced at Karl Strauss brewery-restaurants located throughout San Diego County and beyond. Those rotate often, allowing visitors to imbibe on beers such as IPA from La Jolla, Starkey\u2019s Request English Bitter from Carlsbad and Saison Plaisant Belgian from Downtown, all without having to zigzag the Karl Strauss landscape.
\nBeer is sold in half and full pints, the former assigned to brews exceeding eight percent alcohol. Or opt for an $8 sampler flight and choose any four beers from the day\u2019s menu.
\nRefillable growlers are also available for purchase. The glass containers are especially popular among customers tuned in to the Friday promotion called “bring your growler to work” \u2013 meaning to bring it there empty and stop by the tasting room on the way home.
\nEach week, the company posts a code phrase on its Facebook and Instagram accounts. When repeated to the bartender on Fridays, the growler owners are afforded one-liter fill ups on any beer in the house for $8.
\nGiven their ample layouts, both the tasting room and garden have attracted a growing number of private parties with their hired caterers. Some are held in “the barrel room,” which features a 20-seat wooden table and windows looking into the brewing facility. When not in use, customers are free to gather there.
\nThe room is marked also by a dominating mural of the late Karl Strauss, a German master brewer who taught his craft to the company\u2019s founders, Chris Kramer and Matt Rattner, before they opened their original location in 1989 at 1157 Columbia St.
\nThe garden is equipped with outdoor heaters and sits in eyeshot of the bar through retractable garage doors. Dogs aren\u2019t allowed, but kids are at all times. Despite the gradual rise in consumer traffic since the sign went up, and increased word-of-mouth buzz, the tasting room remains one of San Diego\u2019s hidden gems for grabbing a beer or throwing a bash. But maybe not for long. Karl Strauss Tasting Room & Beer Garden Where: 5985 Sante Fe St. (Pacific Beach).
\nHours: 2 to 8 p.m., Wednesdays through Saturdays.
\nInfo: 858-273-2739; www.karlstrauss.com<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It wasn\u2019t until signage was installed on the roof several months ago that Karl Strauss Tasting Room & Beer Garden began emerging from obscurity. Though plainly visible from the east side of Interstate 5, just north of the Grand\/Garnet exit, the marker doesn\u2019t eliminate the mystery of how to reach the attractively designed property on […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":266871,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"Karl Strauss Tasting Room a hidden oasis for beer drinkers","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11551,11600],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-266870","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-sdnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266870","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=266870"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266870\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/266871"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=266870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=266870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=266870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}